Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) wanted to race in the Six Days of Ghent track cycling race this week, but his team manager told him he could not.

“We pay him to perform on the road, and he must fully concentrate on that,” Patrick Lefevere told Sporza. “On the first day of the Ghent Six-Day, two riders crashed. What if one of them had been Mark? Furthermore, track racing does not fit into his preparations for next season.”

Cavendish wants to represent Great Britain in track cycling at the 2016 Olympics.

Lefevere said that Cavendish racing on the boards would cause a sponsorship problem in the short term. Right now, he’s paid by Specialized to use its bikes. The British track cyclists, however, ride Pinarello track bikes and wear different kits.

“As long as we pay him, I do not want to see him on the track,” Lefevere said.